Sellers in Britain cut asking prices on more than 3,000 homes a day in September, the most for 15 years, as mortgage rates sit at three-year highs

The rest of the day

8 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Birmingham landlords paid for care they skip

   BBC Panorama found private firms in Birmingham collecting housing benefit for vulnerable people while giving them little of the support it pays for. [7] The scheme, called supported exempt accommodation, houses people such as former prisoners and women fleeing abuse, and pays enhanced housing benefit to cover the support. [7] The UK benefits ministry paid 410m pounds for it in Birmingham last year, for more than 34,000 residents. [7] One provider was paid 443 pounds a week for one woman's room and support. [7]

   34,000Birmingham

   vsvs

   22,000London

   Why it matters — By law a provider needs to offer only 'more than minimal' care, and the city council approves each claim while central government pays. [7] A 2023 law to license these landlords is still stuck in consultation three years later. [7]

2. 03

   Milburn: move benefit money into job help

   Alan Milburn, a former UK health secretary who leads a government review of young people out of work, told the Guardian that ministers should cut benefit spending to pay for more help into jobs. [8] His review counts a record 1 million people aged 18 to 24 who are not in work, education or training, and 60% of them have never had a job. [8] Ministers have put off his final report until after the Budget. [8]

   3 of 9

   young people out of work and study who claim no benefits

   Why it matters — About a third of these young people claim no benefits at all, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a research group, found, so a cut would reach only the two-thirds who do. [10] Only Romania, among the 27 EU countries, has a higher share of young people out of work and study, the Resolution Foundation, a think tank, said in May. [9]

3. 04

   An island's name sold as a casino licence

   Online casinos buy licences in the name of Anjouan, an island in the Comoros off south-east Africa, the Guardian reports. [11] Anjouan's licensing authority says they must apply through a website run by a UK company in north London. [11] The Comoros central bank says the scheme is illegal and uses the country's name to look legitimate. [11] Nearly 1,500 gambling firms hold the licences. [11] Some are accused of refusing to pay out winnings, and some are advertised as not on GamStop, the UK tool that lets gamblers block themselves from betting. [11]

   Why it matters — The website offers a licence for 19,000 pounds, and an industry source said one in Curacao, a Caribbean island tightening its rules, costs about 80,000 pounds. [11] Harold Sorsky, one of the company's owners, said it has not handled gaming licences since 2023, and the Comoros government has asked the UK for help. [11]

4. 05

   Six years of scaffolding, no cladding work

   Archway Heights, a nine-storey block of flats in north London, has been wrapped in scaffolding for more than six years for cladding work that has not started, the Guardian reports. [12] Safety rules brought in after the fire at Grenfell Tower, a London block of flats, require the work, and it cannot begin until the Building Safety Regulator approves it. [12] The regulator says the first application, in April 2024, was invalid, and the second, in January 2025, has needed several requests for more information. [12]

   Why it matters — Residents say rents and service charges rise every year, and they got 250 pounds twice a year in compensation until Acorn, a community union, won an increase. [12] Places for People, the UK's biggest housing association, owns the block and says it is waiting on the regulator. [12]

5. 06

   Massachusetts votes on smaller house plots

   Voters in Massachusetts will decide on 3 November whether to cap the minimum plot for a single-family home at 5,000 square feet, HousingWire, a US property news site, reports. [13] More than half the towns in the east of the state now require at least an acre for each house. [13] To pass, 'yes' votes must be a majority and also equal 30% of all ballots cast. [13] The question sits seventh of nine on the ballot. [13]

   Why it matters — Backers say smaller plots mean smaller, cheaper starter homes, and their campaign has raised more than 1.7 million dollars, much of it from property groups. [13] In California, a vote on Proposition 45 would set deadlines for environmental reviews of housing and other projects. [13]

6. 07

   Ten US states allow plug-in solar

   Ten US states now let households use plug-in solar: panels and a battery that connect to an ordinary wall socket, ZDNet, a technology news site, reports. [14] Utah was the first. [14] About two dozen more states have bills in progress, and New York's is waiting for the governor's signature. [14] Bills failed in Georgia, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. [14] The panels were kept illegal because US home wiring was not built to take power in through a socket. [14]

   Why it matters — Power companies are the biggest obstacle, ZDNet says, and they would sell less power if the panels spread. [14] The new laws stop power companies blocking the panels, but landlords and homeowners' associations can still ban them. [14]

7. 08

   Volunteers save 1m pounds of food for food banks

   Gleaning Cornwall, a charity in south-west England, has collected 1m pounds' worth of fruit and vegetables left in fields after harvest and given it away. [15] Its volunteers deliver the food to 160 food banks, community larders and kitchens, and it says it feeds 11,000 people a week. [15] Places giving out free food in Cornwall rose from 20 in 2015 to 180, Cornwall Council says. [15] A council study found 30% of the county's children live in food poverty. [15]

   20Food aid places, 2015

   ↓→

   180Food aid places now

   Why it matters — The charity says the cost of transport, storage and planning is rising fast, and it needs funding to keep going. [15] Its rule is that all the food is free to the people who get it. [15]

8. 09

   Six million in the UK lack a bed or cooker

   About six million people in the UK live without basics such as a bed, a cooker or a fridge, End Furniture Poverty, a national charity, says. [17] Scratch, a charity in Southampton that has run for 27 years, says it is busier than ever, with two vans out every day. [17] Most social housing is let empty: over a quarter of social tenants live in furniture poverty, but only about 3% of those homes come furnished. [17]

   Why it matters — Families who cannot pay may turn to loans with high interest instead, a Portsmouth charity says. [17] End Furniture Poverty wants 10% of social homes let furnished, and the UK government points to a 1bn pound fund that can be used to help households get furniture. [17]